Ander Herrera has – shock-horror –  backed Manchester United, his own team, to win the Premier League title this season and hasn’t even included Arsenal in his top-four prediction.

Herrara believes United have what it takes to win the title this season despite coming below Arsenal in sixth last term. In fact, he doesn’t see the Gunners finishing in the top four for a second season in a row.

“If you’re looking for a favourite for the title, then I would back United.” the midfielder said, reports the Mirror

“The race will be very open and the key for me is to avoid defeats at home and to start the season with a run of victories to prove we are contenders.

“Just looking at statistics and at the squad, you can say that Manchester Untied is a candidate for the title – but we need to demonstrate it on the pitch.

“I don’t see many changes in the title race – Chelsea, City, Spurs, Liverpool and us.”

United beat West Ham 4-0 on Sunday afternoon with their new £75m signing, Romelu Lukaku, netting his first and second competitive goals for his new team.

The rest of last season’s top four didn’t win quite as emphatically, with Arsenal having to fight their way back to win 4-3 against Leicester, Chelsea losing 3-2 to Burnley at Stamford Bridge, and Liverpool drawing 3-3 away to Watford.

Manchester City, however, did beat newly promoted Brighton 2-0 and Spurs were victorious against Newcastle.

To be fair, right now, the Gunners aren’t exactly looking like favourites to clinch the title for the first time since 2004, which doesn’t feel good to say after just one game. However, we’ve got a long way to go and the competition is perhaps even fiercer than last term.

A lot rests on whether Arsenal stick to their guns and keep Alexis Sanchez despite him entering into the final year of his career. The Chilean scored 30 goals over all competitions last season and is a huge part of the Gunners’ starting XI.

Therefore, if he does leave and a replacement isn’t found, I’d have to agree with Herrara; I don’t see Arsenal finishing in the top four.